Device for preventing side draft in harvesters.



y PATENTBD JULY 21, 1903. G. A. SMITH, J. E. PHILLIBE: & J. P. SMITH.

DEVICE POR'PREVENTING SIRE DRAFT IN HARVESTERS. Armonzon 11mm um. 26, 1902.

NO MODEL.

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and so increase the "work of dragging the ma der to do this we drive the. grain-wheel by means of a train of gearing, but at the same No. 734,439. v

'UNITED" STAT S GEORGE Patented July 21, 1903. 1

OFFICE.

A. SMITH, OF COTTONW'OOD, JAMES E. PHILL IPS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, AND JOHN PHILIP SMITH, OE OO'ITONVVOOD, MINNESOTA.

DEVICE FOR PREVENTING SIDE DRAFT IN HARVESTERS.

SPEGIFICATIONfor-ming part of Letters Patent NO. 734,439, dated July 21, 1903.

Application filed March 25,

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE A. SMITH, a resident of Cottonwood in the county of Lyon JAMES E. PHILLIPS, a resident of Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin, and JOHN PHILIP SMITH,a resident of Cottonwood, in the county of Lyon, State of Minnesota, all citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Preventing Side Draft in Harvesters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our invention relates to harvestingmachinessuch asreapers, mowers, and binders-the object being to relievethe so-called side draft -that is, the tendency of the machine to draw sidewise when pulled by horses,

chine forward. It will be noted that in harvesting-machines ofthis kind some part of the frame proj ects'later'all y outward, and it is this part which usnallycarries the operative mechanism. The horses are compelled to pull somewhat at a disadvantage on this account. Our idea is to quicken the speed of the part of the frame in question, and in ortime leave the'wheel free to overrun its connections.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which the figure represents a plan view of our device.

The main frameisjshown at 1, the mastergear at 2, and the axle for supportingthe same at 3 Upon this axle is a front sprocket-wheel 4, connected by means of a sprocket-chain 5 with a rear sprocket-wheel 6, mounted upon a shaft 7. The bevel-gearS upon this shaft is used for actuating the cutting mechanism. (Not shown.) Brackets 9 10-11 12 support parts of the gearing. Upon the shaft 7 is mounted another sprocket-wheel 13, con nected by a chain 14 with the sprocket-wheel 15, mounted upon a shaft 15*. fUpon this shaft is also loosely keyed a clutch member 16, which engages a clutch member 17, nating the same,'a'spring 18 normally pressing the clutch member 17 to the right. Spurgears 19 21 engage wheels 20 22, respectively,

mounted 011 a shaft 20", so as to constitute a changeable speed gear. The wheel 19 is smaller than the wheel 21, and the wheel 22 is smaller than the wheel 20. A clutch 19 is mounted rigidly upon the shaft 20 and is free to engage either the wheel 19 or the wheel 21, as the case may be, according as said shaft '20 is driven to the left by the clutch member 17 or is retracted to the right by means of the spring 18. The spring 18 normally keeps the clutch 19 in mesh with the spur-gear 19. By means of gear-wheels 24 25, asprocket-chain 26, and a sprocket-wheel 27 motion is communicated to the one-way-clu ch 28. This clutch is normally olosedby thespring 29, so that when the speed of the chain 26 is greater than the normal speed of the sprocket wheel 27 the speed of the grain-wheel. 30 is quickened,whereas if the speed of the'gearing be less than that of the grain-wheel thegrainwheel merely overruns the speed of the gearing. By. this arrangement when the power from the master-wheel is transmitted, through with the-frame 1 and is provided withahorseshoe-shaped collar 33, provided with slots 34, which loosely engage a pin 35, so as toallow the left-hand portionofthe frame 1 to swing backward slightly. The tongue 31 is pivoted at 36 and has the usual 'up-and-down radial motion. A spring-tongue 37 projects backward and terminates in a crescent38, which engages the clutch member,,16. 1 When the left-hand'p'ortion of the frame ispulled backward by the-draft, therefore,- the springtongue 3 7jmoves ,to the left, pressing the clutch member -1.6;:into engagement with the clutch memberlZ and throwing the clutch 19 out of: engagement withthe wheel 19 and into engagement with thewheel' 21. The effect of this movementis that-,the' grain-wheel 30 in speed If, however, for any reason, such asthe horses turning a bend, the speed of the grain -wheel considered as a vehicular member is increased beyond its speed conconsidered ;-as a-driven elementis. quickened sidered as a member driven by the gearing, the clutch 28 allows it to overrun the speed of the gearing and to rotate practically as freely as is the case in the old machines. It will be noted, therefore, that while the Wheel 30 is always free to act as an ordinary grainwheel whenever such action may be neces sary, yet during the moments when the machine is subjected to heavy draft the speed of this Wheel is quickened by means of the gearing. WVhen the quickening speed of the grain-wheel causes the left-hand portion of the frame to move forward, so as to lighten the draft caused by the grain upon this wheel, or, in other words, when the frame is restored to its normal position relatively to the tongue, the grain-wheel again acts as the grain-wheel of an ordinary harvesting-machine. Most of the time the wheel 19 is in use and the Wheel 21 is idle. As frequent movements of the clutch 19 would cause frequent shocks to the mechanism, the clutch, consisting of the members 16 and 17, is employed as an equalizer and also as a safety appliance to prevent breakage. Then the machine is moving forward, say, with the wheel 19 in action, the least turn of the team to the right throws the clutch member 16 into engagement with its mate 17, which not only allows enough slip for purposes of safety, but shifts the shaft 20 and clutch 19 to the left, thus speeding up the train of gearing and giving the grain-wheel ahigher rotary speed. The clutch 16 17, therefore, under ordinary circumstances exerts a regulatinginfiuence. Thisclutchis sensitive to the slightest variation in the general direc tion of travel, or, what amounts to about the same thing, to the speed of the grain-wheel 30. Practically as soon as the grain-Wheel 30 begins to travel ata rate below its normal speed the slow wheel 19 is discarded automatically and the grain-wheel 30 is speeded up by the Wheel 21. The speed of the grain-wheel 30 when driven through the agency of the Wheels 19 and 20 is slightly greater than the speed of the master-wheel 2, the clutch 16 17 being the equalizing element, as above stated. When the team turns to the left or when from any other cause there is a tendency for the grainwheel 30 to turn slowly as compared with the general speed of the machine, the clutch members 16 17 are disconnected and the entire train of mechanismthrown out of gear. The clutch 19 still engages the wheel 19, however, so that when the clutch member 16 again engages the clutch member 17 the train of gearing is instantly completed.

Having thus described our invention, we

claim as new and desire'to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A device for preventing side draft in harvesters, comprising a frame, a master- Wheel and a grain-Wheel, both for engaging the ground and normally connected together by differential-speed gearing, and means controllable by the forward draft of the harvester for automatically changing the speed of said gearing.

2. A device for preventing side draft in harvesters, comprising a frame, a masterwheel and a grain-wheel, both for engaging the ground, and normally connected together by fragmentary trains of gearing, clutch mechanism for changing the speed of one of said fragmentary trains of gearing, and a draft appliance for automatically actuating said clutch mechanism.

3. A device for preventing side draft in harvesters, comprising a frame, a masterwheel for engaging the ground, differentialspeed gear connected with said master-whee1 and controllable automatically by the forward draft of the harvester, a grain-wheel for engaging the ground, anda one-way clutch connected with said grain-wheel and with said gearing, said clutch being driven by said gearing, the arrangement being such that said gearing when driven at maximum speed is free to be overrun by said grainwheel.

4. A device for preventing side draft in harvesters, comprising a frame, a master- Wheel for engaging the ground, gearing permanently connected with said master-wheel and driven thereby, a grain-wheel for engaging the ground and provided With a one-way clutch, gearing connected with said clutch, mechanism for connecting said gearings together for producing different speeds, and a spring member controlled by the tension of the forward draft for actuating said clutch members.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE A. SMITH. JAMES E. PHILLIPS. JOHN PHILIP SMITH.

Witnesses as to the signature of George A. Smith:

ALEX. II. LAME, G. A. STRAND.

llvitnesses as to the signatures of James E.

Phillips and John Philip Smith: W. GEO. HAMMETT, A. P. JOHNSON. 

